MSU Left Out of Men’s Field

The Missouri State Bears are on the outside of the NCAA Tournament, looking in….again. The Bears were not picked, despite having an RPI ranking of 21, which is by far the highest ranking to ever be left out. Only three teams with an RPI of higher than 34 had ever missed the NCAA Tournament—Oklahoma missed in 1995 with an RPI ranking of 33 and in 2000, Barry Hinson’s first year, Missouri St. (then Southwest Missouri St.) was left out at 34.

MSU, which is 20-8, may have hurt their chances, when they lost their opening round game at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament to Northern Iowa. The Bears have accepted a bid to the NIT Tournament and will play the winner of Virginia-Stanford at the Hammons Center on Friday.